Abstract
Aravind Adiga’s Between the Assassinations (2008) showcases the most beloved aspects of Adiga’s writing to brilliant effect: the class struggle rendered personal and the fury of the underdog. Set in the fictional town of Kittur, a microcosm of India, the novel captures the various malpractices rampant in Indian society such as corruption, child labour, social discrimination on the grounds of caste, religion, class and gender through a story of “everyman” of “everytown” of the period of transition between the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, viz. 1984 to 1991. This paper examines Adiga’s social criticism focusing on the poverty and misery of India and its religio-socio-political conflicts, including gross violation of people’s liberty and equality, poor-rich divide, corruption, religious fanaticism, child labour and the utter sufferings of the subalterns.
Keywords: social criticism, Adiga, caste, corruption, religious fanaticism, class, subaltern
Religious Fanaticism and Terrorism
Adiga has highlighted how religious fanaticism is exploited by some evil people through the character of Ziauddin. Ziauddin, a twelve year old, sixth of the eleventh children of a poor family, works in a tea stall. Working at a tender age, he develops a sense of isolation from the society. In the town of Kittur, Muslims are discriminated against and are not part of the mainstream society. After a stay of four months with his parents, the boy returns completely transformed, losing his innocence. He develops a sense of pride in his religion and yearns to know his ancestral roots. The religious pride and a sense of separation spreads poison in the mind of the young boy. Ziauddin’s quest for identity increases when he comes in contact with a north Indian Muslim Pathan who tempts him to count the number of trains with Indian soldiers, which leads to some terrorist activity. However, Ziauddin realizes that he is being used by the self-centered terrorist and escapes from his clutches.
Media Manipulation and Corruption
Adiga has beautifully brought out how truth has been suppressed in today’s world through the character of Gururaj, a journalist who is on a mission to discover the truth. Adiga shows how media is manipulative and what the readers perceive to be truth is nothing but a capitalist oriented truth. When Gururaj learns the truth about Mr. Engineer’s hit-and-run case, he wants to print the truth and reinvestigate the matter but his editor tries to bury it. Gururaj bursts with anger, “A man might have been sent to jail for no good reason; a guilty man might be walking free. And all you can say is, let’s drop the matter.”
Caste Discrimination
In India class differences die hard. Although discrimination on the basis of caste is banished by the constitution, in reality it is part and parcel of everyday Indian life. Adiga has captured this through the case of Shankara, a child born from the union of a Brahmin father and a low caste Hoyka woman. He is not secure about his identity and tries to take revenge against the caste biased society by exploding a bomb in his school. Through the dilemma of Shankara, Adiga raises a question whether caste or class is worst in society.
Bureaucratic Corruption
Corruption is highlighted by the character of Abbasi, a God-fearing Muslim businessman. To reopen his factory, Abbasi had to overcome several hurdles, facing many visits by corrupt officials from various government agencies who had ostensibly come for inspection but had in reality come for taking bribes. Out of frustration he says, “In black-marketing, counterfeiting and corruption, we are the world champions. If they were included in the Olympic games, India would always win gold, silver and bronze in these three.”
Child Labour and Exploitation
Adiga has highlighted how the wretched labour class of the town has lost all sense of self-respect and many of them compel their children to go for begging. Ramachandran, a smack addict, beats his wife and forces his children to go for begging from the tourists, exploiting their innocence for selfish and mean motives.
Conclusion
Adiga has focused our attention towards the various ills that plague our country. It is a social criticism focusing on the poverty and misery of India and its religio-socio-political conflicts. Gross violation of people’s liberty and equality, poor-rich divide, corruption, religious fanaticism, child labour and utter sufferings of the subalterns is the theme of the text.
Works Cited
- Adiga, Aravind. 2008, Between the Assassinations. London: Picador India.
- Chandrahas. (2008), available at http://middlestage.blogspot.in/2008/11/on-aravind-adigas-between.html
- Mill, John Stuart. (1967), “On Liberty”: The Liberal Tradition. ed. Allan Bullock and Maurice Shock. Oxford: OUP, pp.108-115.
- Nikam, Sudhir and Madhavi Nikam. (2011), “Aravind Adiga’s Between the Assassinations: Chronicles of Aspiration and Disillusionment”, Vol III, 5-6 Jan-Dec.
- Singh, Khushwant. “Review of Between the Assassinations”. The Outlook Magazine, 24 November, 2008.
- Saxena, Shobhan. (2008), “Fact not Fiction”, Sunday Times of India, October 19, p.9.
- Sebastian Sdb, A.J. (2009), “Is Adiga’s Between the Assassinations a Coop for The White Tiger?” Seva Bharati Journal of English Studies, Vol.V, Feb. p.13.
- Swarup, Vikas. (2009), available at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/11/between-assassinations-aravind-adiga-review